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annreadsabook's review against another edition
Hmmmm I think I just need to read this at a different time, I’m hitting a wall with this one
anitaderouen's review
challenging
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
patchworkbunny's review against another edition
4.0
Set in a near future America, We Cast a Shadow explores what happens when a country accepts institutionalised racism, when even the black people accept it. The unnamed narrator thinks the worst thing his son can be is black, that he will succeed if only he can banish Nigel's birthmark for good. Nigel is mixed race, born with a dark birthmark on his face which is slowly getting bigger.
The narrator is working as a junior associate in a law firm, hoping to get promoted so he can afford to get the new demelanization technique for his son; a treatment which will make him white. Poor Nigel, he just wants to be a normal boy but his father pushes his self-hatred onto him. The scenes where he is forced to endure skin whitening cream are hard to stomach.
In this future, black people are allowed to do low paid jobs; working in restaurants, as cleaners or maintenance. The narrator allows himself to be humiliated at work, in the hope it will please his white bosses. They only give him a chance because they want to win a client by showing how good they are at diversity. He's working at a law firm because they have quotas, not because they see him as an equal.
This is political satire, but not of the amusing kind. There's not much in this that isn't happening, or hasn't happened, somewhere in the world, from the ghettoisation of black neighbourhoods to humiliation in the workplace and privatisation of prisons. Even the demelanization, which seems the most far-fetched, is reminiscent of the cosmetic surgery Michael Jackson became addicted to. In the current American climate, this is a very timely novel, highlighting the casual prejudice people are capable of and how is escalates.
Whilst the narrator isn't very likeable, it's easy to see how he formed this mindset, how the world might be against him but he chose to capitulate rather than stand up for what's right. He wanted the best for his son, but he didn't think to ask his son what he wanted.
The narrator is working as a junior associate in a law firm, hoping to get promoted so he can afford to get the new demelanization technique for his son; a treatment which will make him white. Poor Nigel, he just wants to be a normal boy but his father pushes his self-hatred onto him. The scenes where he is forced to endure skin whitening cream are hard to stomach.
In this future, black people are allowed to do low paid jobs; working in restaurants, as cleaners or maintenance. The narrator allows himself to be humiliated at work, in the hope it will please his white bosses. They only give him a chance because they want to win a client by showing how good they are at diversity. He's working at a law firm because they have quotas, not because they see him as an equal.
This is political satire, but not of the amusing kind. There's not much in this that isn't happening, or hasn't happened, somewhere in the world, from the ghettoisation of black neighbourhoods to humiliation in the workplace and privatisation of prisons. Even the demelanization, which seems the most far-fetched, is reminiscent of the cosmetic surgery Michael Jackson became addicted to. In the current American climate, this is a very timely novel, highlighting the casual prejudice people are capable of and how is escalates.
Whilst the narrator isn't very likeable, it's easy to see how he formed this mindset, how the world might be against him but he chose to capitulate rather than stand up for what's right. He wanted the best for his son, but he didn't think to ask his son what he wanted.
trollbeard's review
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
biblio_creep's review against another edition
5.0
Book Review | WE CAST A SHADOW by MAURICE CARLOS RUFFIN
5 ⭐’s | PUB DATE: 29 January 2019
Read if you're looking for:
- A speculative novel set in a near future American dystopia, with some satirical humor
- A pointed look at structural racism, colorism, & wealth inequality
- A complicated & sometimes unlikable main character
- A heartbreaking portrayal of missteps made by a parent who wants the best for their child
- Amazing narration on the audiobook
Wow, this book was so thought-provoking! It’s set in the near future in the American south (seemingly Louisiana). Structural racism has gotten even worst in America, and people of color (those who can afford it) are paying for medical procedures to make them look white. Our main character desperately wants to rise in the law firm he works for in order to pay for this procedure for his son. However, his single-mindedness and internalized racism cause him to act in ways that cause so much harm to his family and himself. With satirical humor and witty writing, this book calls out so many deep-seated issues and insecurities, and hammers home the destructiveness of structural racism in America. Although it is sometimes difficult to be in the head of the main character, this book was so powerful, and I loved it! I highly recommend!
QUOTES:
- “In my thinking, the entire South beyond my hometown was just one sprawling countryside of ectoplasmic Colonel Sanderses on horseback chasing runaway spirits until the Rapture.”
- “White people ain’t no more evil than the next man, and don’t let nobody tell you they are. But white folk radioactive, too. Because they got the top card and always will. ’Cause they glow in the dark, they can’t help but hurt you like what make cancer. You get me?”
- “If any of the seventy-plus delegates at the Constitutional Convention could have bothered to bring along a gray-wigged man of letters or even a lowly print shop owner, the document would have been clearer, so generations of people wouldn’t have spent their lives dreaming of rights they were never meant to have, wrongheadedly attending protests, getting beaten or killed.”
CW: Racism, Colorism, Police brutality, Addiction, Violence, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Pregnancy
mx_eyebrows's review
5.0
Book Review | WE CAST A SHADOW by MAURICE CARLOS RUFFIN
5 ⭐’s | PUB DATE: 29 January 2019
Read if you're looking for:
- A speculative novel set in a near future American dystopia, with some satirical humor
- A pointed look at structural racism, colorism, & wealth inequality
- A complicated & sometimes unlikable main character
- A heartbreaking portrayal of missteps made by a parent who wants the best for their child
- Amazing narration on the audiobook
Wow, this book was so thought-provoking! It’s set in the near future in the American south (seemingly Louisiana). Structural racism has gotten even worst in America, and people of color (those who can afford it) are paying for medical procedures to make them look white. Our main character desperately wants to rise in the law firm he works for in order to pay for this procedure for his son. However, his single-mindedness and internalized racism cause him to act in ways that cause so much harm to his family and himself. With satirical humor and witty writing, this book calls out so many deep-seated issues and insecurities, and hammers home the destructiveness of structural racism in America. Although it is sometimes difficult to be in the head of the main character, this book was so powerful, and I loved it! I highly recommend!
QUOTES:
- “In my thinking, the entire South beyond my hometown was just one sprawling countryside of ectoplasmic Colonel Sanderses on horseback chasing runaway spirits until the Rapture.”
- “White people ain’t no more evil than the next man, and don’t let nobody tell you they are. But white folk radioactive, too. Because they got the top card and always will. ’Cause they glow in the dark, they can’t help but hurt you like what make cancer. You get me?”
- “If any of the seventy-plus delegates at the Constitutional Convention could have bothered to bring along a gray-wigged man of letters or even a lowly print shop owner, the document would have been clearer, so generations of people wouldn’t have spent their lives dreaming of rights they were never meant to have, wrongheadedly attending protests, getting beaten or killed.”
CW: Racism, Colorism, Police brutality, Addiction, Violence, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Pregnancy
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug use, and Drug abuse
Minor: Violence and Child abuse
cassandragon's review against another edition
So many interesting ideas and threads as well as beautiful writing. But, the pacing and stochastic movement of the story had me constantly feeling lost and made it difficult to really connect to any of the characters.
horfhorfhorf's review against another edition
3.0
I love satire, but the heavy-handed approach wore me out halfway through.
lifemeetsliterature's review
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
vtlism's review
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
So well-written and inventive. Deep, believable characters. I appreciated that the plot was not all of a single emotional note and not predictable either. Very sad overall but because the main character is not aligned with the author's beliefs (nor made fun of), it was more bearable than I thought it would be in the beginning.